SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER
A BREATHTAKING DEBUT novel about survival, hope, and second chances in an Asian American community in Massachusetts, when a false missile throws the residents’ lives into chaos.
On an otherwise unremarkable morning, the residents of a small town in Massachusetts all receive the same alert: BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.
Confronted with the options of fight or flight, planning or panicking, the people of Beckitt are stripped to their basest instincts and revealed as their truest selves. Russ squeezes his family into the bathtub, leaving his own survival in question; Nina sends an unforgivable text to her daughter;
On an otherwise unremarkable morning, the residents of a small town in Massachusetts all receive the same alert: BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.
Confronted with the options of fight or flight, planning or panicking, the people of Beckitt are stripped to their basest instincts and revealed as their truest selves. Russ squeezes his family into the bathtub, leaving his own survival in question; Nina sends an unforgivable text to her daughter; Milly confesses her unrequited love; and David hits the gas, speeding away from his wife and child.
Then the second message comes in: FALSE ALARM. PLEASE DISREGARD. ALL CLEAR. First comes relief, then comes the reckoning, as each person is forced to face the unforeseen aftermath of decisions they thought might be their last.
Vincent Yu’s searing debut follows this eclectic cast of characters over a period of many years, suggesting that the conflicts the missile exacerbated were simmering under the surface long before, and proving the ripple effects of the false alarm will be felt for years to come.
An urgent, fiercely heartfelt exploration of relationships in all forms, Seek Immediate Shelter explores the balance between love and loyalty, betrayal and forgiveness. What choices would you make if you thought your life were on the line? And if you survive, can you ever redeem yourself?
- Flatiron Books
- Hardcover
- May 2026
- 305 Pages
- 9781250410122
Buy the Book
$28.99
About Vincent Yu
Vincent Yu is a sales manager at W.W. Norton/Liveright and the winner of the 2021 Ashley Bourne Prize for fiction from Ploughshares. Seek Immediate Shelter is his debut novel. His work has been published in Prairie Schooner, StoryQuarterly, Ninth Letter, Able Muse, and elsewhere. He lives in Brooklyn.
Praise
A Most Anticipated Book (The Millions, WBUR, Los Angeles Daily News, Orange County Register, Our Culture)
“Achingly tender, invoking sympathy for even the most selfish of characters, Vincent Yu’s triumphant debut asks can any of us really know who we are and what we truly value until it’s a matter of life or death?” —WBUR
“Residents of an Asian American community in Western Massachusetts respond in consequential ways to a false alert of a ‘ballistic missile threat’ in Yu’s resonant debut.” —The Millions
“The novel twists and turns into the private and public lives of the characters, offering a quirky, often funny, and sharply rendered peek into small-town life and the moments, large and small, that ripple out beyond our horizon of perception…A quietly profound debut that asks what we would really do if we believed we would die within the next few seconds.” —Kirkus
“Resonant…Yu handily juggles and resolves the many story lines, exploring the ripple effects of snap decisions and fully developing his characters as they face various consequences. Reminiscent of the Twilight Zone episode ‘The Shelter,’ this layered novel pays dividends.” —Publishers Weekly